Support to the Voluntary Sector following COVID-19

Leonie Cooper: How are you supporting the voluntary sector to deal with the economic impact of the coronavirus?

The Mayor: I recognise the immense financial implications of the Covid crisis on our Voluntary sector in London and continue work on mitigating the impact. Early in the pandemic I worked with London Funders and City Bridge Trust to build the London Community Response Fund. I donated £5 million to the fund, which has reached over £23 million with contributions from 61 other funders. To date the Fund has supported 951 organisations across 32 London boroughs, meeting both immediate crisis needs and new ways of delivering services.
Recognising that local authorities and the charity and voluntary sector play a key role in responding to coronavirus, I launched a new scheme with TFL to reimburse the Congestion Charge for coronavirus response work.
I have worked with partners such as Google to provide free training on digital skills to charities and matched corporate offers of support with the needs of third sector organisations.

Tram Capacity

Keith Prince: Please provide the data showing the total monthly capacity of London’s Tram from January 2019 to the present day and the actual tram usage for each month over the same time period.

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2020/1729.

Bus Capacity

Keith Prince: Please provide the data showing the total monthly capacity of London’s buses from January 2019 to the present day and the actual bus usage for each month over the same time period.

The Mayor: Please see my response to Mayor’s Question 2020/1729.

Future of Old Oak

Tony Devenish: Given the collapse of their HIF bid, what is the future of Old Oak as Europe's largest regeneration site? Is any thought being given to land disposal or joint-venturing which could free up hundreds of millions of pounds to protect front line public services?

The Mayor: Kick-starting regeneration is critical to the country’s economic recovery and the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area has the potential to support London’s recovery now that the new £1.3bn HS2 Old Oak Common station has the go-ahead from government.
As planning authority and development agency, OPDC is ideally placed to oversee this investment and recovery. It’s working hard to drive forward collaboration with public and private sector partners, including host London Boroughs, HS2, Network Rail, and local businesses to make this happen.
OPDC has a memorandum of understanding with Network Rail giving a first right of refusal for surplus land, but the wider opportunity, catalysed by the huge public sector investment into Old Oak Common Station, can’t be fully realised without government support for essential infrastructure funding.
I’m now seeking the government’s commitment to work with me and OPDC to secure the future of this nationally important regeneration project, to make good on its promise toBuild Back Better.

Tube Capacity

Keith Prince: Please provide the data showing the total monthly capacity of each Tube Line from January 2019 to the present day and the actual Tube usage on each Tube line for each month over the same time period.

The Mayor: The number of actual journeys on the Tube, bus and Tram networks is published at https://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/public-transport-journeys-type-transport.
There is no simple calculation for the monthly capacity for these services. A lot of capacity is available at off-peak times and at various points along the route, generally at the beginning or end. However, customer demand is concentrated towards a morning and afternoon peak on weekdays at some locations along the route.

London NHS Volunteers

Tony Devenish: Following fresh reports that across the country 140,000 NHS volunteers haven't been given a single assignment, what are the figures for London ? What have you as Mayor done to engage with these civic minded Londoners since March 2020 and what plans do you have to do so in the future?

The Mayor: Over 95,000 Londoners signed up through the NHS responders app. As of 5 July 85,544 tasks had been undertaken by London Volunteers. This is just one volunteering route into London’s voluntary sector of thousands of community groups of all sizes.
I researched the 700 London Mutual Aid groups that now exist to establish how to support informal volunteering and engaged with Londoners through Talk London to understand experiences of food aid volunteering.
My team has mobilised civic minded Londoners, including Team London and Euro2020 volunteers to provide pan-London vital support.
NHS Nightingale On 31 March Team London volunteers were deployed to assist at NHS Nightingale. 250 volunteers completed 1200 shifts, totalling 7000 hours of volunteering. Volunteer roles included welcoming, directing and registering up to 400 clinicians per day.
Volunteers and face-coverings On 15 June volunteers assisted with distributing free face coverings at 26 TfL stations in London. 146 volunteers completed nearly 400 shifts totalling over 1000 hours of volunteering.

ABM Cleaning Contract

Alison Moore: Will the Mayor agree to publish figures showing what payments have been made to ABM in each year of its London Underground cleaning contract, together with figures showing the number and Full-Time Equivalence of cleaners employed in each year of the contract?

The Mayor: The table below sets out the number of full-time cleaners employed in each year of the contract to date.
ABM contract year
FTE
17 September 2017 - 31 March 2018
2,314
1 April 2018 – 31 March 2019
2,245
1 April 2019 - 31 March 2020
2,175
1 April 2020 - 31 March 2021*
2,175
*Forecast
Payments made to ABM under the London Underground cleaning contact is commercially sensitive and therefore cannot be published.

Building on the coronavirus volunteer effort

Jennette Arnold: What efforts are you making to build on the mutual aid and NHS volunteering programmes that have seen so many Londoners active in their communities through this pandemic?

The Mayor: I am working with key partners, through the Recovery board and Funders Communities and Voluntary Sector sub-group to the Strategic Coordination Group to plan ongoing support for volunteering.
My team carried out research with Mutual Aid groups to explore their experience of volunteering through the pandemic, gaining insights from 50 individuals across the network, across18 London boroughs. This will help plan targeted support for local groups to continue their vital work.
During Volunteers’ Week, I provided £25,000 of small grants to grassroots groups for for volunteering expenses and resources connected with the pandemic, and I contributed to the London Community Response Fund which supported organisations with volunteering costs . The Team London website advertises volunteering roles, emphasising safe volunteering, and promoting opportunities for Londoners. 

Through Team London, my volunteers have contributed some 8000 hours of volunteering as part of Covid response and recovery including opportunities at NHS Nightingale and distributing face masks to commuters and shoppers.